Lepidosaphes tokionis ( Kuwana, 1902 )

Lepidosaphes tokionis ( Kuwana, 1902) View in CoL ( Fig. 12 View Figure 12 )

Croton mussel scale

Hosts in FSCA. Euphorbiaceae : Codiaeum sp. (6), Codiaeum variegatum (6), Myrtaceae : Psidium guajava (1)*.

Notes. We include L. tokionis in the key because of its history of interception but there is not yet evidence that this species is established in Florida. In the course of the study, we found that Lepidosaphes tokionis was repeatedly misidentified as L. camelliae on Codiaeum variegatum from at least three separate nurseries in St. Lucie (1987), Seminole (1990), and Orange (1995) counties. Other specimens of L. tokionis were found in the FSCA collection which had been identified as Lepidosaphes sp. were intercepted again in Seminole county in 1996. In other years, nursery stock in Seminole County (1997) and import inspections via the Dominican Republic (1989) and Guatemala (2001) were correctly identified as L. tokionis . We have also identified a series of much older Florida slides from Key West (1950) and St. Lucie (1920) of L. tokionis that had been unidentified until now. Unfortunately, these older slides do not indicate whether plants were nursery stock or planted in the landscape. However, most slides from this time period in the FSCA were nursery or import inspections, not collections from natural areas. For a comparison of L. tokionis with L. mackieana see the “Notes” section of the latter.